R&V raises $20,000 for Lifeline

SHARING THE LOVE: Rhythm and Vines' co-founder Hamish PInkham (left), Lifeline connections and fundraising manager Susanne Ritzenhoff, and suicide prevention manager and interim national training manager Dominic Boekweit celebrate the $20,000 the 2019 R&V festival raised for its charity of choice.Picture supplied

A community helpline with a nationwide reach has just benefited from $20,000 raised by Rhythm and Vines (R&V) fundraising initiatives.

Suicide crisis support service Lifeline Aotearoa is the music festival's official charity. Ensuring the festival experience is a positive and safe one is a significant consideration for the event, says Lifeline Aotearoa connections and fundraising manager Suzanne Ritzenhoff.

The funds raised will mostly be used for volunteer training.

“Training is ongoing and helps ensure volunteers are kept safe themselves,” says Mrs Ritzenhoff.

“Most volunteers receive more than they can give and sometimes it's important for them to debrief from what they have heard.”

R&V wants to be one of the safest events in the world, says the festival's head of marketing and partnerships Kyle Bell, who came up with the initiative.

Lifeline was a natural choice.

“In 2018, we saw an opportunity to turn the hundreds of complimentary tickets given away each year into something useful,” he says.

“Whether won by radio station, or through a sponsor or artist guest list, recipients were required to donate $20 to redeem their tickets to Rhythm and Vines.”

Once systems were in place to process the donations and issue tickets, organisers singled out Lifeline as the festival's charity of choice.

Mental health is a major issue in New Zealand, especially among those in the festival's demographic, says Mr Bell.

In the first year $15,000 was raised.

To continue the initiative for the 2019 festival, all sponsorship deals required the sponsor to contribute towards the charity to redeem their allocated complimentary tickets.

“We also introduced an add-on option for ticket buyers to donate, and committed to a number of fundraising initiatives throughout the year.”

One of those was a meatpack raffle that raised $800 at the festival's line-up release event in Auckland.

Having raised $20,000 for Lifeline last year, organisers plan to reach $25,000-$30,000 this year.

The funds help Lifeline take around 800 phone calls from people in distress, says Mr Bell.

“We feel we can also create awareness and influence among New Zealand's youth that there is somewhere to call for help.

“A big part of that is not just looking after your mates but anyone who may need help.

“Lending our voice and resources towards promoting Lifeline as a tool for reaching out for help is a natural choice.”

“Whatever you are going through, you don't need to go through it alone.”